A Bell to Soothe the Thunder
by M.F.D
Summary: The Thunder Plains and how things should have been. Rikku/Auron/Tidus. Follow up to "A Bell Across the Water."


Disclaimer: CUBE ENIX.

Notes: Please observe how FREAKISHLY LONG this is. For me, at least. :o

...

As much as Tidus wants to do right by her, he knows that Rikku only takes a small amount of comfort from him as they cross the Thunder Plains. He is grateful that she took the time to explain it to him, very clearly and very nicely, before they left Guadosalam.

"It's not because I don't believe in you, or because I think you're weak," she said. "I'm just not good at letting other people help me. Never have been." And then she smiled, and kissed his cheek, and now he feels a bit better about not being able to shield the girl (_his_ girl) from the perpetual storm that rages in the clouds above.

And truly, it is perpetual, a never-ending barrage of rain and thunder and lightning. They trek across the Plains with their hands shielded over their eyes, both to keep their vision clear from the rain and to ward off the bright flashes that accompany the lightning. Lulu and Yuna walk together, and it's they who seem to have the most difficulty. Skirts and dresses are all well and good, but they make climbing over rocks an ordeal, and they are nearly impossible to run in. Kimahri and Wakka have their hands full: every so often a bolt will hit too close and they end up sprinting to their respective charges, Kimahri to Yuna and Wakka to Lulu.

The girls laugh and say they are fine, and both Ronso and man breathe a sigh of relief.

Tidus sticks close to Rikku's side, hoping that she will, despite what she said, take some strength from his constant presence. Auron, too, remains nearby, and Rikku throws him a curious glance more than once as they struggle through the gale winds. For Tidus, it is not so much of a mystery. Years spent living together has given him insight into the scarred man's personality. Taciturn he might be, but not inhuman, or cold. For all that he pushes Rikku to her limits, he seems worried, and he grows increasingly so as the day wears on.

Rikku begs for a chance to rest. After he pushes her out of the way of a lightning bolt for the third time, Tidus is starting to feel the same way.

When the Travel Agency appears in the distance, obscured as it is by a grey swath of cloud, the both of them whoop excitedly and point it out to the others.

"We keep going," Auron says, and Rikku immediately frowns, then shrieks as thunder bellows in their ears.

"Please," she says. "Please, a little rest, just for a while."

Auron shakes his head and turns to leave and the Al Bhed girl looks crestfallen. But Tidus sees the way that Kimahri's fur is plastered to his skin, how the hem of Lulu's dress trails in the mud, and the light of quiet panic in Yuna's eyes.

And most importantly, he sees how Auron never actually turns away from them completely, even as he makes to walk away.

So Tidus plays his hand and remains at Rikku's side, cupping her small, bare shoulders in calloused blitzer's hands, rubbing circles into her skin.

Auron only gets about twenty feet before he sighs and turns back.

The Agency can only offer them three rooms, with two beds to each; the Thunder Plains do not often see large groups of travelers. More bodies, after all, mean more targets.

The girls immediately agree to room together. Yuna and Rikku plan to share a bed. Kimahri and Wakka too, agree, and take the room next to the girls'. Which leaves him and Auron, and Tidus smiles at his old friend, remembering his thirteenth birthday party, when he had invited a dozen other little boys home for a sleep over and an unsuspecting Auron had ended up playing caretaker.

"Do you remember…?" He says, as they settle down to sleep.

"Yes," Auron murmurs, and Tidus smiles even wider because he never actually has to say it. They're a lot alike, in the end, no matter how much they argue or seem to dislike each other.

And other than the crash of the thunder and the brilliance of the lightning, the night is peaceful.

...

"Psst."

Tidus tilts his head away from the sound, muttering.

"Psst! Tidus!"

He peels open one eye, glaring blearily at whoever has dared to interrupt his rest. The glare, however, fades rapidly when he realizes that it's Rikku hovering uncertainly at his bedside.

"Rikku," he says, his mouth still thick with sleep. "What. Are you okay?"

She nods, then shakes her head, then shrugs. "The storm," she whispers. "It's gotten worse, and…"

Tidus doesn't need to hear any more. He lifts up his covers and she dives beneath them, quickly pressing herself tight to his side. She is warm, and soft, even more so than the blankets, and he curls himself around her as if he can keep the storm away with his body and nothing else. "Hush," he murmurs. "S'okay."

Rikku shakes beside him, her quiet whimpers drowned out by the sound of the heavens crashing down outside. Maybe if he keeps talking, it will distract her from her fears. He takes shallow breath.

"When I was little, I used to get really scared…whenever there was a lightning storm. 'Cause Zanarkand had so much water there were all these surge protectors placed all around the city, in case the storm got too close, but I was always terrified that they would fail somehow."

He glances down. Rikku's eyes are still screwed shut, but she no longer shakes and moans.

"When I turned thirteen I decided to throw a huge birthday party, only I never actually asked Auron. He took care of me, you know. For most of my life."

She nods against his chest. His arms tighten around her, but he notices that she has turned her head and now watches something off to the right. He smiles.

"There were twelve of us. It wasn't that great of a party; all the other kids wanted to know stories about my old man. I remember feeling so angry at them…And then the first thunderclaps came. All the kids were scared, but I remember being absolutely terrified. Auron had us all huddle up in the living room, just this big pile of little boys, and he told us stories and kept us company until everyone fell asleep."

Tidus pauses, remembering. _The smell of ozone, the sharp rapping of the rain on the windows…the brush of a rough, battle-hardened hand, curled gently, comfortingly against his face._

"I was the only one who stayed awake. I was just so scared…I crawled out from under all the other guys and went to Auron. I was crying, a little bit. I used to cry a lot. I ended up spending the night in his room."

_The scent of sake and sword polish, and the nearly overwhelming heat of the long body next to him. In the corner is a crumpled heap of familiar red, and when he snuggles close he can feel every hard muscle beneath the man's thin sleep tank. The breath that fans across his face smells sweetly of the cake forced upon the man earlier in the day, and he is seized with an incredible surge of boldness. He leans up, placing his hand over the much larger one that softly cups his cheek, and presses a hesitant kiss to the corner of his guardian's mouth. The stubble is bristly, tickly, not entirely unpleasant, and in his sleep, Auron smiles._

"You're smiling."

Tidus blinks, returning to the present. He looks down into Rikku's smug face. Smug, because she is pressed to him full length, and Tidus realizes with no small amount of horror that his teenage body accepts what he himself has never mentioned aloud. He is embarrassingly hard against Rikku's bare stomach, and she grins as she reaches down and…

"Oh," Tidus breathes. "Rikku, not…"

"I know this wasn't for me. Not at first." She squeezes, gently, and Tidus takes a deep breath. "And since you were thinking about _him_…"

Her lips curl, and suddenly her smile is infinitely gentler. "The trouser monkey doesn't lie, Tidus. Neither should you."

He shifts, somewhat guiltily, but turns nonetheless so that he can look at Auron, asleep in the other bed.

In sleep his face loses the worry lines and the taunting smirk, leaving him looking years younger, but never softer. His sunglasses are carefully tucked away, along with his red coat, and Tidus traces with his eyes the angle of his jaw, the arch of his brows, the curve of his lips. Rikku, too, studies the sleeping man, attention flicking rapidly from the bobbing of his Adam's apple as he swallows, to the shifting of his arms and legs, all scars and sinew and muscle.

"He's so much…quieter, when he sleeps."

Tidus nods in agreement. Auron has a _presence_, so strong you can practically feel it, but, asleep, he is only a man.

Rikku cocks her head, then giggles. _Bells, _Tidus thinks, immediately. _Hearing her laugh is worth these storms__._

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Her whisper is hushed, secret in his ear, and suddenly he _is_ thinking what she's thinking.

"He's going to kill us," he mutters, and Rikku winks.

"That's half the fun of it, silly."

And he might think it's crazy, but some other part of him thinks it's worth it, because when she tosses back the covers and slips over to Auron's bed, Tidus hauls himself upright and follows.

...

Morning brings with it a fresh batch of storms, and Auron wakes to the feel of something soft tickling his nose.

He cracks open his eye and tries to raise one arm, only to find himself firmly sandwiched between two slumbering blondes. Tidus, on his right, sleeps with his head down, tucked snugly beneath Auron's chin (the boy's hair, he realizes, is what woke him). His face is soft, so soft in the dim light of a cloudy dawn, and he has to restrain himself from burying his nose in that untamable mop and breathing deep.

On his other side is Rikku, clinging like a limpet to his arm, her hair a wild tangle across the pillow. Her mouth is open, and even as he watches she slowly, and with a great amount of drooling, begins to gnaw on his shoulder. It is not painful, only persistent, and he is amused, slightly, until he realizes that the hand she is so determinedly clutching is wedged between her legs, fingers splayed across her inner thigh. He feels heat bloom across his cheeks (and elsewhere, if he is to be completely honest, which he isn't), and thinks for a moment. Then, with a soft, put-upon sigh, he lays his head back in the indent he left in the pillow. There is no way for him to get up without waking the two teens. And besides…no one else will be up at this hour, anyway. Better to let them rest while they can.

Rikku places a sleepy, open-mouthed kiss upon his bicep and falls still again. Tidus hums and nuzzles the underside of Auron's jaw, murmuring in his sleep, "Mmloveyou, love…"

And Auron, completely awake, listens to the crash of thunder outside, and smiles.

...

..

.

A/N: DOT PYRAMID. Alright, so in all seriousness, why does it seem like this little trifecta of perfection has gone unnoticed by the general populace? AM I THE PIONEER?! Shocking!

Aurikkus is the new black. :D


End file.
